Moving on, minus Chrysler

"I basically worked my way through school here," said Michael, 42, who attended nearby Archbishop Williams High School and spent many afternoons performing oil changes and installing tires. "We're just a local family - been here a long time and have a local business. We live and work in the same town that we grew up in."

Over the years, said Greg, 39, some customers have become more like family friends. "People come back and bring their kids, their grandkids," he said.

"This is our life," Michael added.

But the Shea brothers, who took over the business from their father, Robert, about 13 years ago, have reason to worry about the future. Chrysler LLC plans to cut ties with 789 of its 3,181 US dealers Tuesday as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. South Shore Chrysler is one of the 12 underperforming Massachusetts dealerships on the ailing automaker's list.

General Motors Corp., which filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, plans to shrink its network of dealers from about 6,000 to 3,600 by the end of 2010. Between the two automakers, more than 50 Massachusetts dealerships are likely to be affected, local auto industry officials say.

While the Sheas vow to persevere without the brand that their father started selling in 1967, there is no doubt the business will have to change dramatically to survive. The plan is to rely on repairing and servicing cars, and selling used models. Even if that works, it could involve downsizing - a concern for the dealership's 33 workers.

"We want to keep as many employees as we can," Greg said.

But aside from the economic impact, the automaker's decision to strip the Sheas of their franchise carries an emotional price - for them, longtime customers, and community groups.

On a recent afternoon, Greg recalled growing up in Braintree with boys who played on Little League teams sponsored by South Shore Chrysler. It's a tradition the Sheas still uphold - this year, they are sponsoring a T-ball team playing for the Braintree American Little League.

"We have so many plaques of sponsorship teams that we can't put them up on the walls anymore," he said, rummaging through a cardboard box brimming with plaques displaying team photos. "Here's 1987, there's 1981," Greg said, pointing out team portraits. He ticked off some names that went with smiling faces in one photo: Pete, Manny, Chris, Craig.

The dealership also regularly donates money to a Quincy high school lacrosse team and a 5K road race at Hollis Elementary School in Braintree, and some of its employees volunteer at a local food pantry.

Frank DeFrancesco, who handles the Little League sponsorships, said he flinched when he heard the dealership had made Chrysler's cut list.

"This year has been the toughest year we've had getting sponsored," he said, but "every year we can rely on them."

Originally known as Conner Motor Co., the dealership opened in the late 1940s. In 1967, Robert Shea, now 82, bought it and changed the name. Previously, he worked for General Motors and, later, Chrysler, where he sold cars to dealers.

With sales badly lagging, Chrysler and GM say they need fewer, stronger dealerships to better compete against brands like Honda and Toyota. At Chrysler, most of the franchises targeted for closing sell under 100 new cars a year, or sell more used vehicles than new ones, company officials said.

The Sheas insist their business is not a weak link. The brothers would not disclose exact sales numbers, but said the dealership sells 500 to 600 cars annually, split almost evenly between new and used models. Even though they remain profitable, the Sheas said, their business is apparently not large enough to satisfy Chrysler.

"We're a viable dealership," Michael insisted.

Chrysler spokeswoman Kathy Graham said decisions about which dealers to drop were based on a number of criteria, including facilities, location, potential market, proximity of other dealers, and customer service and sales ratings. South Shore didn't meet or exceed enough of those measures, Graham said, and "that left them in the rejected bin."

But, she added, "This is a tough one because they've been with us since 1967 and they're good people."

Though Chrysler was always the smallest of the Big Three US automakers, it did have some successes. For instance, Greg remembers the popularity of the Reliant K and the minivan in the 1980s. During Chrysler's periodic downtimes, he said, the dealership made it through by focusing on customer service.

"Sticking to the basics," he said. "Making sure the cars are fixed properly and fixed on time, and make sure you charge people fairly."

That's always been enough for customers like Joe McCarthy.

McCarthy, 82, has bought cars from the dealership since the 1950s. They included several Chrysler Valiants, one of which was handed down to a son, a Plymouth wagon when his three children were young, and most recently a PT Cruiser. His kids have also purchased vehicles there, he said: a Jeep for his youngest son, a Chrysler Concorde for his daughter, and a PT Cruiser for another son.

Another longtime customer, Katherine vonWendt, bought one of her first cars, a turquoise-colored Chrysler Sundance, from Michael about 15 years ago.

"It was like a blue jewel," she said, recalling her first glimpse of the car. "It sparkled under the sunlight."

She comes in every few months for tune-ups or to have her mother's car worked on.

"Hey, Kathy. How's it going?" Greg asked, spotting vonWendt as she waited in the showroom on a recent Tuesday.

"It makes you feel a part of things here," vonWendt said of the attention she receives from the Sheas. She even sends them postcards while on vacation.

Though concerned about how long their jobs might last, employees new and old said they are prepared to stick it out - the family takes care of its staff, they said.

"It's going to be hard for us to lose Chrysler," said Robert Chojnowski, who has only worked at the dealership since 2007, but has 15 years experience as a Chrysler technician.

Veteran salesman Gordon MacBean, 75, said he has no doubt South Shore Chrysler will go on, as long as employee and customer loyalties remain intact.

"I said till death do us part," he joked, recalling the day nearly four decades ago when he was hired. "And I'm still here."

Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com.